Takashi MURAKAMI Untitled (Kaikai & Kiki) – 2020 FRP, polyurethane paint, stainless steel and wood Edition “13/20” + 2AP + 2SP Height: 99 cm; Diameter: 82 cm FRP, urethane paint, stainless steel, wood Unique Height: 38.98 in. Diameter: 32.28 in. Provenance: Perrotin, New York Acquired from the gallery by the current owner “Beauty is always strange.” Charles Baudelaire Smiling and kind, Kaikai—the white figure with rabbit ears—exudes an air of good-naturedness, whilst her counterpart or malevolent double, Kiki, has a pink body, small ears, three eyes and a mischievous smile accentuated by vampire fangs. Written on their ears in Japanese characters, their name Kaikai Kiki – which can be translated as ‘supernatural, bizarre’ – refers to the Japanese term that emerged in the 16th century to describe the works of the painter Kano Eitoku, creator of the Kano style, whose aesthetic blends the bizarre with the refined, the grotesque with the sensitive. Smiling and kind, Kaikai – the white one with rabbit ears – exudes an air of good-naturedness, whilst her counterpart or evil double, Kiki, has a pink body, small ears, three eyes and a mischievous smile accentuated by vampire fangs. Written on their ears in Japanese characters, their name “Kaikai Kiki” – which can be translated as ‘supernatural, bizarre’ – refers to the Japanese term that emerged in the 16th century to describe the works of the painter Kano Eitoku, the creator of the Kano style, whose aesthetic blends the bizarre with the refined, and the grotesque with the sensitive. Takashi MURAKAMI